The Basic court in the central town of Krusevac ordered 30-day detention for the suspects in an attack on the leader of Serbia’s Left party and two of his aids six days ago, the Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported on Thursday.

Before an opposition meeting in a municipality hall took place, the three men came from behind and heavily hit Borko Stefanovic with a metal bar and injured two of his associates who came to his rescue.

Stefanovic’s party said that “a group of thugs armed with metal bars stopped Stefanovic, knocked him down onto the pavement and beat him mercilessly.“

The men were almost immediately arrested, and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia proved it was not a banana republic.

They are suspected of a crime involving “violent behaviour at sports events or public gatherings.”

Stefanovic and other opposition leaders said it was an attempted murder and blame Vucic and his followers for creating an atmosphere where something like that was possible.